I’m beginning to understand many of the things that baffled me when I first arrived in Korea. For example, I now understand why my bed is so low to the floor. Korea uses floor heat, so the closer you are to the floor, the warmer you’ll be. Floor heat, by the way, is an awesome concept. When you wake up in the morning you don’t have to worry about putting your feet on the cold hardwood floor because it’s nice and warm. I’ve also come to understand why Koreans leave the windows open even on the coldest of days. Mold. That’s right, I have (and many Koreans have) a mold problem in my apartment. I’m trying desperately to solve the problem without having to rewallpaper my entire room, but it’s not looking promising. Everyday when I come home from work, I air out my apartment to break up the spores and avoid a nasty sore throat and cough. I’ve cleaned my wall with bleach water, but I’m pretty sure the problem is under the wallpaper. The mold started from poor insulation in my apartment, which forms condensation on the window on my bedroom wall. I’ve tried putting towels all over the windowsill, but as I’ve read, a mold problem usually cannot be taken care of without complete removal of the mold (which lies under the wallpaper). My coteacher is also not very optimistic, but I’m going to do my best to nip the mold in the bud. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t have to rewallpaper, or even worse, move.

Halloween

Hula-Hooping in the Park

One of the best pictures I've taken yet.

Fireworks in Busan (a little late)